An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
As strategies for improving building envelope and HVAC equipment efficiencies are increasingly required to reduce building energy use, a greater percentage of energy loss will occur through building envelope leakage. Although the energy impacts of
Erica D. Kuligowski, Franklin T. Lombardo, Long Phan, Marc L. Levitan, David P. Jorgensen
This is the final report of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigation of the May 22, 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, conducted under the National Construction Safety Team Act. This report describes the wind field of the
Mina S. Seif, Therese P. McAllister, Joseph A. Main, William E. Luecke
Performance-based methodologies to evaluate the fire performance of structures are needed to move beyond the prescriptive procedures presently in use, which cannot be used to determine actual structural performance in fire. Analytical methods are needed
The study of compressed hydrogen releases from high-pressure storage systems has practical application for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Such releases may occur either due to accidental damage to a storage tank, connecting piping, or due to failure
In order to model the structural behavior under fire, three separate analyses need to be conducted: a) fire propagation and growth (fire modeling), b) transient heat transfer in structural members due to fire, and c) structural analysis to account for both
The purpose of this report is to provide guidance to system designers, building managers and/or building emergency personnel responsible for emergency communication on how to create and disseminate messages using basic communication modes (audible and/or
Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard Peacock, Bryan Hoskins, Emily Wiess
The time that it takes a population to reach safety when descending a stairwell during building evacuations is typically described by measureable engineering variables. These engineering variables include stairwell geometry, speed, density, and pre
Kathryn M. Butler, Alexander H. Cheng, Christopher Mullen, Ahmed Al-Ostaz
Applying a polymeric coating on steel members has been demonstrated to be an effective countermeasure for the threat of blast on building and other structures. The development of a blast-resistant coating for steel with good characteristics in a fire would
Dustin G. Poppendieck, Dong H. Rim, Andrew K. Persily
In-duct electrostatic air filters (ESP) have been shown to be an effective particulate control device for reducing UFP concentrations (20 nm - 100 nm) in buildings, although they have the potential to increase indoor ozone concentrations due to corona
Kevin Y. Teichman, Steven J. Emmerich, Andrew K. Persily
In this paper, we describe and demonstrate a graphical approach to illustrating the performance of high-performing buildings. Our approach enables building designers, owners, operators, and occupants to evaluate the performance of a building as designed
Enrico Ronchi, Paul A. Reneke, Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard D. Peacock
This paper provides the analysis of a data-set about people movement on stair landings collected during an evacuation drill performed in a six-storey office building in the United States. The evacuation drill was filmed and occupants behaviours on stair
The complex relationships between indoor and outdoor environmental conditions, coupled with the impacts of climate change, make it more important than ever before that buildings be comfortable and healthy for the occupants yet also energy efficient. This
When a building emergency occurs, it is not always sufficient to simply initiate alarm bells. Individuals may not know what the alarm bell means and as a result may respond inappropriately to its sound. Many buildings have installed mass notification or
Besides providing thermal comfort and acceptable indoor environmental quality (IEQ), the designers of buildings and other enclosed spaces are increasingly challenged to provide a healthy environment in an energy efficient manner. Increasing pressure to
Lisa C. Ng, Andrew K. Persily, Steven J. Emmerich, Kevin Y. Teichman
Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in buildings are designed to provide thermally comfortable conditions and to maintain acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ). At the same time, the operating costs of HVAC systems are often a large
This paper presents a computational assessment of the performance of steel gravity framing systems with single-plate shear connections and composite floor slabs under column loss scenarios. The computational assessment uses a reduced modeling approach
Chiara F. Ferraris, Nicos Martys, William L. George
Rotational rheometers are routinely used for homogeneous materials, but their usage for characterization of a granular fluid like concrete is a relatively new phenomenon. As measurements with rheometers can involve flow in a complex geometry, it is
Enrico Ronchi, Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard D. Peacock, Paul A. Reneke
This paper presents an innovative method to study stair evacuation data based on a probabilistic analysis of occupant travel paths. This type of approach relies on a detailed video analysis of people movement and pattern reconstruction. Conditional
Anthony Hamins, Jason D. Averill, Nelson P. Bryner, David Butry, Richard Gann, Rick D. Davis, Daniel M. Madrzykowski, Alexander Maranghides, Jiann C. Yang, Matthew Bundy, Samuel Manzello, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Francine K. Amon, William E. Mell
Fire costs and losses are a significant life safety and economic burden on society comprising about two percent of the United States gross domestic product. This paper presents the results of a roadmap developed by the National Institute of Standards and
The sensitivity of composite floor system response at elevated temperatures to variations in structural features is examined. Four structural features were varied between two values or conditions, based on a recommendation from the NIST investigation of